


Sooner or Later

by Sioux



Series: The Vanishing Pints [3]
Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-26
Updated: 2012-07-26
Packaged: 2017-11-10 19:21:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/469782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sioux/pseuds/Sioux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story picks up directly from the end of Hot and Spicy.<br/>(Unadulterated fluff!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sooner or Later

Sooner or Later

(This story picks up from the end of 'Hot and Spicy')

 

I open my eyes, first of all hearing the tele playing away to itself then awareness of a heavy, warm weight plastered all the way down my right side.

Hathaway sleeps on, totally relaxed which I take as a good sign. I smile into the twilit room as I remember how last night had ended; oddly restrained but incredibly erotic at the same time.

I wriggle the fingers of my right hand which is suffering with pins and needles, added to which I realise it's my older bladder which has woken me at...04:10!

I lay for a couple of minutes enjoying the closeness. It has been a very long time since I shared a bed with anybody like this so I want to savour the experience. Savouring doesn't last anywhere near as long as I want it to. Carefully I manoeuvre James' head down to an actual pillow rather than using the hollow of my shoulder.

He sighs in his sleep and rolls over onto his back. As he breathes out the snores begin. Quite soft at first but getting louder. I slide to the edge of the bed grinning like a maniac. Who would have believed that 'dishy Sergeant Hathaway' snores like a drain!

Business taken care of, I decide to have a shower whilst I'm in the bathroom having fallen asleep still semi-dressed for the second night in a row I feel stale and a little grimy. Emerging from the shower cubicle a few minutes later I finger the stubble adorning chin and cheeks and decide that can go as well. As I shave I can see some patches of beard rash appearing on my face and neck. If I was in any way inclined to dismiss last night as a particularly fantastic dream, that gives credence to my imaginings. 

Finishing off with a quick teeth clean and mouthwash I creep out of the bathroom, a towel slung around my hips, before registering there is no need to creep at all. The bedside lamp is lit and James is standing by the bed, his hands clasping the back of his head, shirt untucked and looking fairly debauched.

'Morning', I say quietly with a smile, padding to the rail along one wall to hang up my somewhat wrinkled suit trousers.

Hathaway is looking at me, his eyes wide and his expression almost shocked.

My heart picks up the pace as I hang my clothes up. I look again. He looks like he's almost freaking out.

'James?'

I reach out to touch him. Thankfully he doesn't move away from me.

'What's wrong?' 

Slowly he brings his hands down and places then on my shoulders, patting slightly as if to test their solidity then he dips his head and released the breath he's been holding. His arms slide down and hold me tight. It feels a little odd not to be the taller person in the hug. I'm not used to being 'the woman'. His mouth searches out mine, his lips feel scorching on me but he soon warms my water cooled skin. 

The taste of the essential James Hathaway fights it's way through the flavour of toothpaste and the harsh, artificial mint of the mouthwash I'd used. It's a taste I know I'm already hooked on.

'I'm not going anywhere,' I whisper against his lips.

'You're certainly not now,' he replies, breathing the words against my skin.

I'm unsure if it's a promise or a threat. My hands wander to the three remaining buttons on his shirt which have remained stubbornly fastened. Within seconds our chests are skin to skin and I'm getting anxious to get us horizontal again when he pulls away.

'Don't start without me,' he says, placing a large, warm palm against the twitching front of my towel in a passing benediction as he steps around me heading towards the bathroom.

I feel like a dirty old man tracking what he's doing from the sounds coming to me through the bathroom door, however, short of laying here with my fingers in my ears, there's little I can do about it. And, for some reason, frustration is making my hearing very acute!

Less than ten minutes later a small cloud of steam precedes his exit. He throws his discarded clothing vaguely towards a chair then stalks forward towards the bed in all his glory. 

I feast my eyes on the clean lines of his long, lithe body, my breathing getting faster and deeper. His hair just towel dried, finger combed and without any product looks slightly darker than usual.

For the life of me I can't figure out why he wants a man two decades his senior, I'm just pleased and humbled that he does. In fact more than that I'm amazed that someone of his intelligence, beauty and integrity is willing to take a chance on someone with more years behind them than ahead.

He slides under the covers next to me and props himself up on his elbow looking down into my face. I reach out to touch his face and feel him rub his freshly shaved, damp, cheek against my palm then kiss it. I can see patches of pink, even in this light, where he too is sporting beard rash. If this continues, we'd better be wary of that.

'Now, I think we were ...' he sinuously slides across the few inches of intervening space and drapes himself on top of me, taking his upper body weight on his elbows, like a gentleman.

'...just about here!'

The sensation of his body touching mine from waist to toes has me involuntarily closing my eyes as pleasure sparks from the back of my neck, tingling down my spine to flutter my stomach and pool, heavy and liquid, at my groin. His lips on mine complete the circuit which is about when I exchange thinking for mindless, pleasured ecstasy.

 

Quite a while later we're drifting on a tide of endorphins, sated and totally boneless. I'm being held against his chest, our legs tangled together, his left hand tracing random patterns across my shoulders. I'm quite aware we both need another shower but I'm not finding out mingled scent unpleasant; it's somehow soft and strangely comforting.

'Are you seeing your daughter whilst you're up here?' he asks quietly, his voice rumbling in his chest against my ear which is pressed to his skin.

'She'll never forgive me if I don't at least ring her,' I tell him. 'Do you have anything you need to get back for?'

He shakes his head sleepily, his eyelids at half mast.

'I'll find something to do around the city,' he continues.

I'm quiet for a moment taking in the possible implications of that remark. I'm hoping this is just Hathaway's natural reticence coming out but best to check.

'Don't you want to come with us?' 

'It's your family, you don't want me there.'

'Oh. So this is a one off then?'

James' eyes snap open wide and the fingertips on my shoulder go still.

'What!?? No!' A pause. 'Unless... you...that is..'

I take pity on the lad before he runs out of half sentences.

'I've never kept secrets from our Lyn and I don't want to start now. So we're agreed we want to continue?'

A definite, 'Yes!'

'Then you'd be meeting her sooner or later, let's make it sooner.'

Hesitantly the hand starts up again. I risk a glance up. A huge grin graces his lips and he's looking at me. We both burst out laughing.

'You've been flirting with me for the last seven years, James Hathaway, now I've finally taken you up on it it's about time you made an honest man of me,' I tell him as I roll on top of him. 'Find something to do around the city indeed! You'll be definitely finding something to do later,' I promise, pressing out hips together. 'You'll be making love to this old man you've rashly decided to get involved with.'

He smiles his open mouthed grin up at me looking carefree and happy. 

'I take exception to the inaccurate description but the rest of it will be with the greatest of pleasure,' he says.

I laugh down at him, feeling ridiculously happy in the company of this man. 

At the back of my mind the voice of the elderly police officer who resides there is busy shaking his head mournfully and calling me a silly old fool. I curtly tell him to sod off.

 

I wait until we've had a late breakfast before I ring my daughter.

'Hello Lyn, it's your Dad.'

'I know who it is. Are you alright, Dad?'

'Yeah, yeah, we're fine.'

'We? Who's we?'

'Hathaway and me. We're in Manchester on a case, well, we've just...'

I don't get any further before she lets out a squeal which nearly deafens me. Once she's calmed down we're under orders to get to her place pronto and to make plans to stay.

We obey.

 

Lyn wraps her arms around me as soon as I get out of the car.

'Hey, I've only been gone a week!'

'I know but it's always great to see you. You look fantastic! James, hello at last. He talks a lot about you.'

'None of it true, of course,' he deadpans.

'Oh, I hope so,' she giggles then, unexpectedly, she draws him into a hug.

His face loses it's smile for a moment before he hesitantly puts his arms around her and returns the pressure. 

Dressed in casual clothes, as am I, it brings home to me, seeing him and Lyn standing together, just how much younger than me he is. Almost as if divining my thoughts, his eyes seek out mine and he smiles at me and suddenly, it doesn't matter a damn.

I shake hands with Tim and pick up the little boy who is hanging onto his Dad's knees. He giggles and wraps his baby arms around my neck.

'And this here is David. David, say hello to James.'

David gurgles at me then obediently transfers his attention to Hathaway. His eyes open wide as he takes in this new stranger then his chubby face splits into a huge grin and he tries to throw himself at the tall, pale man.

I raise my eyebrows at Hathaway. I'm not sure how much contact he's had with children and don't want to make him uncomfortable. However James smiles and holds his hands out to the child.

It's the start of a beautiful friendship!

David is fascinated with James and won't leave him alone. Personally I think my grandson has excellent taste but then again I am biased. Even our Lyn looks a tad surprised at how easily her son adopts my Sergeant. Hathaway, in his turn, surprises me and appears to be a natural; crouching on the floor to play with him, even kicking a ball around the little park at the end of the road, where we all go after a light lunch to let David run off some excess energy and high spirits.

After her initial robust greeting I notice Lyn has gone a bit quiet as the day has gone on. Tim and James are playing ball with David so I sit down on a bench next to her, taking her hand in mine.

'Everything alright, love?'

She turns, her usual ready smile absent.

'What's up love?' I ask again, getting a bit worried now.

She licks her lips and swallows before saying, 

'I don't want to speak out of turn but I think James is in love with you.'

Gobsmacked doesn't even begin to cover it!

After several seconds of pregnant silence I ask,

'And how do you come to that conclusion?'

She swings her eyes to mine, eyes which are the spitting image of her mother's.

'And you're not surprised. You already know,' she states calmly.

'How do you know?' I ask again.

'The way he looks at you when he thinks you're not looking. His body language around you. He's covering it when he knows he's being observed but sometimes he forgets.'

And sometimes I forget just how perceptive my daughter is. Once she got to her teens, neither me nor Val could pull the wool over her eyes. I wasn't expecting to have this conversation just now but, the opportunity is here.

'Does it bother you?'

She considers her answer.

'If he's the reason you're looking so well and happy, then, no, it doesn't bother me. But I just want to be sure you're going to be alright. He's very young.'

'In his head he's middle-aged,' I joke, then sober at her lack of answering smile. 

'Are you really happy with him, Dad?'

'It should be, do I make him happy and it's maybe a bit soon to say.'

That was an understatement if ever I made one. Her eyes narrow a bit at my comment but she doesn't speak, waiting for me to enlighten her.

'He's overeducated, sarcastic and can be an awkward sod but, yes, he makes me happy.' 

We're both silent for a few moments, each taking in the changing dynamic between us.

'You're taking this very well,' I say to her.

She smiles then and squeezes my hand. 

'Dad, I don't care who you take up with as long as they make you happy. I'm a bit surprised it's a man, given your job and everything but him being male and a copper still won't stop me breaking his legs if he hurts you!'

I laugh.

'You've really not been seeing each other long, have you?' she asks.

I shake my head, looking across the field at Tim and James.

'He's been flirting for years, in a jokey way. This case we've been working, I think it brought home to both of us that we need to take a chance and seize the moment, otherwise we'll miss out on so much.'

She leans against me and kisses me on the cheek. 'Then I'm glad you're together. I've been worrying about you being in Oxford all on your own.'

I put my arm around her and reply, 'Then worry no more.'

 

Later on as we're walking back before the short winter's day ends, I drop back and walk with Hathaway and David waiting until Lyn and Tim get ahead before saying,

'By the way, I think you might be getting a bit of a speech from our Lyn along the lines of "Don't break my Dad's heart"'

'You're a bit late with the warning, Robbie. I've already had the full spiel including the threat of getting my legs broken if I hurt you.' His face creases into a smile. 'Quite fearsome, your daughter. I told her she need have no fears on that score.'

He looks at me with such sincerity in his eyes I physically have to make a huge effort not to lean forward and kiss him. I swallow and say thickly,

'You have no idea how much I want to kiss you at the moment.'

'The sunlight claps the earth And the moonbeams kiss the sea: What are all these kissings worth If thou kiss not me?' he quotes at me softly.

I don't even look around before leaning in and touching his lips to mine. And the world doesn't come to an end either just because I kiss my male lover in the street!

'Shakespeare?' I ask, a little breathlessly.

'Shelley,' he replies.

'Anda, Anda!' a small voice shouts accompanied by a tugging on the knees of my jeans. I look down to see a pair of chubby arms reaching up to me.

'Are you feeling ignored?' I ask, as I pick up David. Immediately he leans forward and gives me a big sloppy kiss on the lips then reaches out for James and gives him the same. We can't help but laugh.

 

As James and me are clearing up after supper letting Lyn and Tim relax with a glass of wine after putting David to bed. I say, 

'Hope you've not been too bored.'

James gives a short laugh. 'I've enjoyed myself. You have a lovely family and they've gone out of their way to make me feel welcome.'

 

Later when we make our way upstairs, I see that both our bags have been put into the spare room and a single pull out bed has been made up at the bottom of the double bed. I'm not sure if that had been done before or after my conversation with Lyn in the park. We pass each other in the doorway as James exits the bathroom and I go in.

When I return to the room, he's changed down to a soft, old t-shirt and threadbare tracksuit bottoms and he's just standing there staring at the sofa bed. He lifts his head and looks at me, saying,  
'Be patient. Your future will come to you and lie down at your feet like a dog who knows and loves you no matter what you are.'  
I smile, closing the door, turning the lock and taking his arm as I lead him to the big double bed. 'Definitely didn't have you down as a Sci Fi fan.'  
His face lights up when he realises I know where that quote comes from.  
'I once turned in an essay at the seminary on the metaphysical aspects of Arthur C. Clarke novels. Didn't go down well.'  
'Too frivolous?' I ask.  
'And not forgetting irreverent,' he replies, taking off his t-shirt.  
'Well don't forget Your future likes frivolous and irreverent, just fine.'  
He's still for a moment looking into my eyes before suddenly I'm being held in a bear hug.  
'Thank you,' he finally whispers.  
'You might not want to thank me just yet,' I tell him quietly. 'Your patience is going to be called for.'  
'Lyn and Tim light sleepers?'  
'Not particularly, it's the bed.' I knock the frame and it makes a heck of a noise. 'Rattles like the devil, the whole street will know if we get up to anything!'  
Hathaway's grin turns quite calculating.  
'I'm a resourceful man,' he replies softly, taking me by the hand and laying me down on the sofa bed. 'I'm sure I can think of something,' he continues, covering me with his body before kissing me deeply.  
Ah, I always did like a man who shows initiative.


End file.
